Questions
by Ph.Acidity
Summary: In a world where pokemon are now 'extint', many questions are raised about the reasons for their dissappearance. AU, chapter-fic, please R&R.
1. Chapter 1

**This is AU for one, two this is really a work in progress! Even though a few chapters are done i still need someone to tell me if the storyline is bad or good so please review. Not only does it make writers feel good, it helps inspire us.**

There was once a time when creatures called pokemon roamed the earth. They were very powerful and had many special abilities. People, soon took notice of the pokemon's powers wanted to use it. Most people treated the pokemon well but there were some that thought of pokemon as tools and used them to as weapons of war. There were larger more well-known wars such as '_Champion Alder vs. Champion Lance'_ and less known wars such as _'pokemon trainer vs. Rival'. _However no matter the size of the party participating in the war or the intentions of the persons involved, pokemon were hurt.

When these wars ended the natural beauty of the world lay in ruins! Trees had fallen; grass seared, craters in the earth, and then, in the midst of everything, laid injured pokemon. These humans then took there pokemon to a center to have them healed. The only problem was that these centers only healed pokemon _physically_ and not mentally. These humans had no idea how badly they were hurting these pokemon! Many developed Stockholm syndrome, or wanted to stay with the ones that had captured them.

There were a few that were truly happy with humans but they were still mistreated. For example Tirtouga's could outlive a human easily but after so many years of being kept captive it had no idea how to survive without humans. So without humans this Tirtouga didn't stand a chance where it truly belonged. It is tragedies like these that caused pokemon to disappear.

"So Ms. Juniper, what do you think happened to the pokemon?"

"I don't know, Bianca. No one knows. I guess, once the realized it wasn't safe for them here, they left."

"I think that is highly unlikely. I doubt over 649 species of pokemon all decide to just 'walk away'. It is more likely that a traumatic event wiped them all out… like a disease of some sorts but no modern disease, a very complex disease that bypasses your body defenses and destroys you from the inside. It's quick and painless like a heart attack, but evasive and stealthy like a ninja."

Ms. Juniper lowered her eyes at Cheren, the boy who had been talking. "Cheren, quiet. You're scaring Black!"

The class turned to me and watched as I wiped warm tears from my eyes. "I-it's f-fine M-Ms. Juniper."

Ms. Juniper turned back to Cheren and scowled at him before going back to reading to the class.

When Cheren was sure Ms. Juniper wasn't watching him anymore he turned around and whispered an 'I'm sorry'.

"It's f-fine" I whispered back although it wasn't. What Cheren said really did scare me on the inside. What had really happened to all the pokemon? What if they did get sick and all die? Could that happen to us? I had so many questions but no answers.

Ms. Juniper suddenly stopped reading and declared that class was over. As everyone was leaving I was preparing my questions. I walked slowly up to Ms. Juniper and pulled lightly in the coat. "Ms. Juniper. D-do you think the p-pokemon really got sick?"

Ms. Juniper squatted as she eyed me carefully. She let out a sigh. "Are you still wondering about Cheren said? The pokemon didn't get sick, they were too powerful. Although I don't know what happened to the pokemon, don't let what Cheren said worry you, ok?" I nodded and left.

As I slowly walked past the large building and houses of the city I thought about what they world was like beyond this small place. I had never seen anything leave, and I've never seen a new person in town. Everyone here I knew by name, and they knew me, there was never anyone new. The only time anyone new ever appeared was when someone had a baby and that was pretty rare. Actually no one had had a baby in three years.

I finally reached my destination of home. I walked up to the door and unlocked it. As I walked into the house I heard Gold call out a greeting. I replied back with the standard response of "Greetings Mentor."

Gold turned to face me. He had a stoic look on his face. "I told you that you didn't have to call me 'mentor'."

Gold, of Jhoto, was my mentor. Mentors were assigned to children who had lost both of their parents. I was one of them but Gold had only been assigned recently. Up until that time I had been living alone and when the council found out they frantically assigned me a mentor because they wanted to 'undo the damage quickly'. As a result I was assigned Gold.

Mentors typically had no children of their own and either were deemed unable to have them themselves or physically incapable. Gold had told me that the word to say this was i_nfertile_. Gold fell into the category of ones that had no children but I could only wonder why.

Gold was very popular with the women that lingered around the city streets. "Gold, w-why don't you have c-children?" Gold sighed. "I know I've asked a lot but y-you've never g-given me a very good answer."

Gold patted the spot on the couch next to him. I sat down as he began talking. "There are just some people out there that don't want children. I mean sure it's fun and all but it's a lot of work. I don't think I'm ready to take care of a child of my own."

"I understand." I told him simply.

"Really? I thought you wouldn't it's hard to understand you sometimes." Gold, said letting out a sigh of relief.

I got up and began to walk out of the room, but I stopped in the doorway. "G-gold?"

"Yep?"

"What d-do you think happened to the p-pokemon?"

"Eh, I guess they just decided to go away, or they found a better place, a place where they didn't have to compete with each other for survival. I wonder if they're happy where ever they are."

I nodded and went to my room. I lay down on my bed, thinking about pokemon. I wonder what they look like or what their special powers could be. I hope they really are happy. Ms. Juniper once told us that pokemon were taught by humans to perfect their skills of hurting others. I have classes at the clinic tomorrow, mostly to 'undo the damage'. Gold has classes at the clinic too. I wonder if they are teaching us to hurt others…

**Until next time, Please review.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Next chapter, same as always, please enjoy and show your support by reviewing.**

I stared silently at Gold. He was asleep on the couch; this was nothing new though, even though he had his own bedroom he insisted he sleep in the couch. I thought he was scared to sleep in my parents and I had once jokingly offered to let him sleep with me in my bed. Gold frantically denied. I don't know why Gold got so flustered when I asked him certain things; that's probably why he goes to the center now.

Today was the day me and Gold had classes at the center. I got to skip a whole day of school while Gold just didn't have to work. Not that his job was anything too complicated, he just had to look after me.

"Wake up, Gold. We need to be heading to the center soon."

Some people say that he doesn't do a very good job.

"Ugh, Black. What time is it?" Gold asked, finally escaping dreamland. Gold stared at me groggily and I stared back into his golden eyes.

"It's almost time for us to go to the center." Gold groaned again and I questioned if we would make it on time.

Gold noticed the look on my face. "Give me a moment." Gold got off the couch, and started to stretch. He touched his toes. "I'm ready." Gold was already fully dressed, and I wondered if he took a shower yesterday.

Gold and I left the house and began walking down the black electric road to the center. The roads brought the all the electricity that was needed to and from houses and took its energy mainly from the static of people walking on it.

"Ah." Gold cooed as he stared up at the morning sky. It was blue, for now. The factories in the area polluted the air during the day and made it gray. IT would stay gray until the sun set at the factories were closed, then during the night it would change back to its normal blue colour. "Isn't the morning sky beautiful?"

"Blue is better than dingy grey…" I replied. Gold turned to me and I thought he would scold me but he just smiled.

"That's the spirit!" He chimed.

"You know we have to go to the center today for that talk session thingy."

Gold's whole demeanor changed. He let his shoulders slouch and began walking slower. He sighed and stopped walking. "Why do we even need to do that? How are we supposed to know our purposes in life?"

I shrugged. Gold turned to face the eerie building, which we were now standing in front of. "Well, it can't be stopped now. Let's go."

We walked inside the center and were greeted by the secretary. "They are in room 2b. It's just down this hall to the left."

I peered down the hallway. "There are 4 doors on the left." I explained.

The secretary leaned over the desk and I could see clearly that she wasn't a morning person. "You'll know it when you see it."

Gold was waiting halfway down the hallway. I walked up to him. "Tsk, Tsk, Tsk. Black you need to learn to stop questioning authority." Gold opened the door and we walked into the room.

The room had changed from last time. This time instead of being red it was yellow. My teacher, Ms. Juniper, was there along with a man, who I guessing was our therapist.

"Take a seat." The man said calmly.

I glanced around the room and noticed only one chair. "There's only one chair…" I explained and the man wrote something down in his clipboard. I looked at Gold who was staring off in the distance, trying not to get involved. I decided since Gold wouldn't back me up he didn't need a seat.

"Hey, where am I going to sit?" Gold, asked when I sat down.

"Fine…, I'll just sit in your lap…"

The man let out a laugh and everyone in the room turned to look at him. "That isn't necessary we have another seat." He said placing it next to the one we were fighting over. Gold sat down in it. "Well, we'll begin by telling a bit more about ourselves. I'm professor Juniper and this is my daughter, your teacher, Ms. Juniper. What are your names?"

"This is Black and I'm Gold." Gold spoke before I could say anything.

Professor Juniper just stared at Gold awkwardly as he shifted under his gaze. "Time for the questions." Professor Juniper said as he took a seat in a chair. Ms. Juniper followed his lead and sat down in a chair.

"Let's start with Gold." The Junipers' glances landed on Gold.

"So Gold?" Professor Juniper started. "Have you ever had sex?"

"No." Gold replied while shifting again.

"No? Why not?" Ms. Juniper asked in such a way as if Gold should be ashamed of this.

Gold shifted awkwardly and I could tell he had no real answer. "Well, um… I just haven't found anybody I'm willing to do that with yet…" Gold caught the Juniper's condescending stares. "Bottom line is that I'm a mentor and mentors don't have to do that! They have no real reason to… so… I won't… until I have a reason…" Gold said as he began to blush.

"Pleasure." Ms. Juniper shot back the second Gold stopped talking.

"Eh?"

"You can have sex for pleasure, to fill a sexual need, as a therapy, or even as exercise. I suggest you have sex with someone before your next visit."

"You can't make me have sex with so one."

"I can and I will."

Gold sat there for a moment as if he was deciding what he wanted to do. "Ugh, fine. I'll try."

"It's nice to hear you say that." Ms. Juniper told him. She turned her gaze to me. "Now, onto Black. How are you're studies going Black?"

"Fine, thank you." I replied.

"Ant, wrong! You have a 'C' in my class." Gold glared at me. "I'm assigning you a research paper as extra credit."

I blinked, not knowing exactly how to react. I had never been given a research paper before. They normally saved them for children who don't act correctly and even then they don't seem very hard. They just go exploring outside and take notes about various things. I would know, I've watched them many days during Math.

"Serves him right. He doesn't even know how to spell his name." Gold said, crossing his arms and turning away.

"B-l-a-c-k." I chimed in.

Gold ignored me. "Ms. Juniper if you look at his records you'll see that this is above… his means."

"I know Black and he is fully capable of such a task, and you will be there to help him every step of the way." She replied. "Now out with you two, we have work to do and patients to see." She said as she ushered us out of the door.

Gold glared at me. "Now look! What are we supposed to do now? I have to help you do a research paper…"

Gold and I stepped on the moving pathway before I gave him my reply. "Gold, calm down; it will be fine, we'll just do a paper on what the king things happened to the pokemon. He'll give us a few sentences and we'll call it a day."

"Yeah, a few sentences that basically amount to I don't know!" Gold yelled, throwing his hands up. "We're doomed! Everyone will call me a bad mentor, and my life will amount to nothing!" Gold began sobbing. "I won't have any friends and I'll live alone. Now one will talk to me and they'll even exile me in the super market. I'll never be able to find the syrup isle again!" Gold paused, sniffed and wiped his nose on his sleeve.

We had arrived home by this part of Gold's sob story and I stood waiting for him to unlock the door.

"They'll even take you away and give you to a professional mentor that's a class S!" Gold sobbed, collapsing to his knees.

"Gold!" I whispered. "Be quiet! You're making a scene. Just open the door."

Gold got up, nodding weirdly and opened the door. I dragged him inside and sat him on the couch.

"Ok, Gold. Tomorrow, after I get out of school, we'll go up to the castle and as the king. Simple right?" Gold nodded, even though I don't think he was listening. I sighed. "I'm going to bed."

"But what will you eat? I haven't fed you yet…" Gold stated as I made my way to my bedroom.

I whispered something to myself. No matter how old I get Gold always insists on 'feeding me'. Though, I will admit, it has changed from the whole bib, hand feeding charade recently. Now he actually lets me use utensils myself.

"I have enough food for thought already." I told him, tapping my temple.

Gold laid back on the couch. "Well, suit yourself but I'll have you know I will not mentor a mal-nutrition child. If you lose one pound I won't let you skip another meal, including snacks, for the rest of the year."

I pushed aside his comments, telling myself that they were his way of making himself feel better. I laid down on my bed, staring at the slightly discolored roof.

"So all we have to do is go to the castle and as the king." I told myself. "He'll tell us everything we need to know and we'll be done." I yawned. "Easy as pie."

**Thank you for reading, i hope you enjoyed. Some shoutouts:**

**Thank you Invalid for pointing that grammar error on my part, i would have missed it otherwise and Thank you G.A.S.A, i'm glad you take the time to read my stories.**

**Until next time-Ph. Out**


	3. Chapter 3

I awoke early, knowing that I had to get Gold up. But today I woke up earlier than usual. I could hear Gold snoring lightly out in the living room, which is what one would expect early in the morning. Gold was a hard sleeper and you could make a much noise as you want and not wake him up.

I slid out of bed, took a bath and got dressed. Then I went out into the living room to awaken Gold. There were several methods I could have gone about this. I could push him off the couch, turn on the TV, or simply snatch his covers away. I was too tired to do anything extreme to wake him up, so I turn the TV onto the news which would get Gold up because he loved laughing at some of the stories.

Sure enough Gold sat up, but I wasn't satisfied… he didn't really seem awake.

"Good morning, Gold." I said, to check if he was responsive.

He turned to me and yawned. "Good morning, Black." I sat down on the couch next to Gold because I had some extra time before I should be heading to school.

I didn't understand much of what the newsman was talking about so I asked Gold. "What is he talking about?"

"They're talking about new mentor standards…" Gold told me before he let out a sigh. "It's really hard being a mentor now-a-days…"

"Gold, you'll do fine. Just stop sighing all the time and try to stay positive. I have to go now, but remember be waiting for me outside of the school so we can go to the castle; you know the way right?"

"To the school?"

"To the castle." I replied, putting on my jacket. Gold gave it to me on Christmas.

"No…do you?"

"We'll figure it out later." I told him before leaving the house.

I closed the door and stepped on the moving pathway. I didn't really feel like walking today, and leaving earlier gives me time to ride the path. I rode it to the edge of the city where I got off and walked to school.

I was normally the first one here but Cheren and Bianca beat me here today. They were both sitting at a table.

"Hey Cheren, Hey Bianca." I said to them as I sat down. Cheren was engaged in a book and Bianca was frantically doing writing something. "…What are you two doing?"

"Oh, Cheren has a hunch that Ms. Juniper will give us a project so me and Cheren are getting started. I'm taking down notes." Bianca told me, not looking up from the paper.

"And I'm skimming for information." Cheren stated.

"So what do you plan to do this supposed report on?" I ask, playing with a stray pencil.

"The effects on micro-organisms on humans." Cheren replied bluntly. I had no idea what Cheren was talking about. He looked up and noticed the look on my face. "We're basically going to see what germs do to people."

I suddenly feel squeamish. "Ick, sounds dirty." Cheren and Bianca glance up at me before returning to their work. "I would ask what you've found but I don't think I have the stomach for it." They ignore me, and continue working.

What's with them? We are supposed to be friends, and really good ones at that, but now they're totally ignoring me. Well, now that I think about it we don't have very much in common. Bianca and Cheren live with their parents while I have Gold. So in that sense I guess we don't have much in common, but we spend a lot of time together, so we naturally all good friends. So how could they forget that in the course of a day?

"I'm going to go ask Ms. Juniper something." I say aloud but they ignore me. I glance at the calendar on the wall. My birthday is a month away, which is probably why Cheren and Bianca are blocking me out: They're thinking of what to get me.

I walk over to Ms. Juniper, who is at her desk, staring off into space… "Ms. Juniper?" She jumps and gasps.

"Oh, Black. You startled me."

I question her silently for a moment. What exactly was she doing?

"Black? Is something wrong?"

Besides the fact that Cheren and Bianca are ignoring me! "No." I lie.

"Ok, what do you plan to do for your report?" She whispers.

I wonder if I should actually tell her. She could shoot it down and tell me that it is a stupid or pointless idea, not say anything of use, or she could think it's a great idea. "I was going to ask the king on what he thinks happened to the pokemon."

"Oh, I thought you we're going to do something stupid like… I don't know… bacteria's effect on humans." She says jokingly. Cheren hears this and lifts his head. "Well, that's an awfully long walk to the castle though…When do you plan to go?"

"I told Gold to meet me outside after school so we could go."

"After school, huh? I guess that's adequate time to go and come back." She pauses, staring up at the ceiling. I look up to, but it's nothing out of the ordinary; just the mobiles we made last week. She ruffles my hair. "Well, I wish you luck!" She says before glancing at the clock. "I should really get started…"

"Ok! Class… I'm starting class now…" She looks around at the three students in the classroom. "Where is everyone else?"

Cheren adjusts his glasses. "They're sick with the flu. They will be contagious these next 2-7 days with high fevers, whooping cough, and a runny nose. Most will not be back before Friday. All of that you would know if you read my report on micro-organisms effect on people, which contains information that we got from a book on your bookshelf."

"Cheren… you shouldn't be offended that I don't want to read your report. Bacteria isn't really one of my interests and there are hundreds of reports on bacteria… you should try something original."

"I am, I'm writing a report on how chemicals caused by emotions can cloud the mind's judgment."

"At least he's trying something new…" Ms. Juniper whispered. Then she sighed. "I'm tired today." She said taking the seat I was sitting in earlier. "What do you three want to do today?"

"Oh! Let's draw pictures!" Bianca chirps, clapping her hands. Cheren and I agree and we began drawing.

A few minutes later we slowly began stopping, until we are all done. Then we hold up our pictures. Bianca's is a crude drawing of a house and her family.

"Oh! Ms. Juniper, I like yours!" Bianca chirps. I look at Ms. Juniper. It's a drawing of her and her father: very detailed.

They look at mine, which is a picture of me and Gold, playing with a Frisbee outside of my house. "That's a very good drawing, Black. Yours and Bianca's make mine look like nothing.

"Look at mine." Cheren pushes. We look at Cheren's… it's a cube… with holes in it.

"It looks like a piece of wood with holes in it." Ms. Juniper points out. While Ms. Juniper would never put me or Bianca down, she has no problem doing it to Cheren and his over-inflated ego.

"It's a Menger sponge, which represents infinite surface area while having a volume of zero." Cheren states.

"I don't believe it." Ms. Juniper puts it simply, and leans back into her chair. Me and Bianca turn to face Ms. Juniper.

"It's mathematically correct." We turn back to Cheren.

"Then explain it."

Cheren pauses. "…It… It's like the ground… you can put all you want on it but you can't put anything inside of it." Bianca and I turn to Ms. Juniper to see if this statement is true.

"What's the point of that?" Ms. Juniper asked.

"You can store stuff." Cheren replied.

"It has no volume so it can't hold anything, and volume is the _meaning_ of storage." Ms. Juniper begins to glare at Cheren. Cheren glares back. "Let me ask you something, Cheren. If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" Cheren grew eerily quiet. "Yeah, Uh-huh. Write a report on that." Ms. Juniper said, triumphantly.

I return to my picture and how, out of all the people who drew their family, I have no parents. I just have Gold, my mentor. Who, is supposed to replace my parents. One person taking the place of two? Even though mentor are trained to do their jobs I don't think it is fair they are required to replace two people.

"So what do all of you (minus Cheren) want to talk about?" Ms. Juniper asked, looking at me and Bianca.

"What about mentors?" I ask Ms. Juniper. "What do you know about them?"

"Mentors are an elite class of teachers. They go through teaching school and all the things necessary to become a teacher but also go through many extra years to get the things needed to become a mentor. Mentors can be teachers, if they want, until they get assigned a child. Normally it's a child that doesn't act correctly or an orphan." She said as she poked me gently in the stomach.

"…But occasionally they are from parents that don't have the skills to raise children, and even though the children are perfectly normal they end up with a mentor." Ms. Juniper ended.

"That hasn't happened in a while though, has it?" Bianca asked.

"True, Bianca…"

"You said mentors go through special training, correct?" Cheren piped in. Ms. Juniper nodded. "So if you and Gold, Black's mentor, both applied for a job as a teacher, they would undoubtedly pick Gold over you?"

"Yes, that is technically true, but I have on the job training and Gold_ is_ Black's mentor, which is considered a full time job so as long as Black is under Gold's care Gold cannot take on another job."

"If a mentor came straight out of college would he still be able to get the job like that?"

"If you're referring to me and Gold again, I don't know." Ms. Juniper said as she crossed her arms. "Gold and I graduated together, but Gold immediately began his special training and by the time he got out I was five years into teaching." Ms. Juniper got up and began to pace, something she normally did when trying to understand something to Cheren. "Sure Gold has more education but I have on the job training, so we are pretty even."

Cheren nodded slowly, clearly getting what he wanted out of Ms. Juniper. Ms. Juniper glared at him, she hated when he nodded his head, like that.

The air was thick with tension until Bianca decided to ask a question. "So how long on average does it take for a mentor to get a child?"

"It mostly depends on the birthrate; If it's high the higher the chance for someone who needs mentoring, the lower it is the lower the chance. The average of lately, has been 3 and a half months, but that expected to increase." She glanced at Bianca, who had a curious look on her face. "A percent of the population is going to turn 25 in these next few years and the unruliness that comes with each generation increases the need for mentors."

"Oh… Well I guess that makes sense, in a strange way…" Bianca, comments, laying her head on the table. I stare at Bianca. She knows she doesn't really understand what Ms. Juniper, but what she did made her sad.

"But that's not entirely definite." Bianca's head pops back up. "There's a chance that won't happen and the average will stay the same or drop… personally I say that Gold is happy to have Black, since he has him for another 16 years."

"W-what? 16 years?" I sputter out.

"What? You think it's too long?" Cheren asks, looking up from a book he's been reading.

Well, no, I don't think it's too long. In 16 year's I'll be 25, the legal age that people are considered adults. I think I'll be able to stay at my house, since I'm a mentor… but what about Gold?

"What will happen to Gold when I'm 25?" I asked, scared of the answer.

"He'll move out and find a new child to mentor." My eyes dropped down to my picture, of me and Gold. We only have 16 years left… that's still a long time, but I don't think I want Gold to leave! I feel my throat tighten and my eyes feel wet.

"OH, but don't worry Black! You have a lot of time with Gold and I'm sure he'll come visit you!" She says, laughing nervously.

"Black, stop crying. It's not just 16 years."

I look up at Cheren. "It's not?"

"No, Mentors aren't allowed to take on children under five and then the law requires that you take care of Gold until he finds another child. So based on the average, you can have anywhere from 16 years and 3 and a half months or 21 years and 3 and a half months with Gold." Cheren said.

"That's not any better!" I yell at him. I sigh and let my head hit the table, getting my drawing wet.

We all sit there, listening to me cry until Cheren announces that the bell is about to ring. Ms. Juniper glares at him, before addressing me. "Well, Black. You only have so much time with Gold so I suggest you make the most of it," She says handing me a handkerchief. "So start today by walking up to the castle and asking to see the king and write the best report you possible can!"

I stand up, feeling rejuvenated by Ms. Juniper's words. "You're right," I wipe my face with her handkerchief before handing it back. "I should make the most of it! Thank you Ms. Juniper."

I walk outside and see Gold sitting on a bench sipping apple juice out of a juice box. "Hey, Gold." I say cheerfully, trying as hard as possible not to let my emotions show.

"Oh, Hey Black. Are you ready to go?"

I nod and we walk off in the direction of the castle.

I notice a few things about the castle when we first arrive. For one, it has vines growing up its walls, making it look aged and lacking. It's not very majestic like I thought it would be. The color of the roof is a bright red while the castle itself is just white brick. The castle is made up of four towers and a large dome in the center.

"Well… this is it. We should go inside, right?" Gold asked. I nod and we walk up to the door. It's nothing special, just regular French doors. We push them open and walk inside.

The room on the other side of the door is smaller than one would expect, but what do you expect when you think castle? There is a single desk, with a man writing something diligently. I walk up to the desk while Gold stands a bit behind me.

I'm too short to see over the desk so I just tap the before I hoist myself up to the point I can see.

"Hello? How may I help you?" The man ask, his glasses sliding to the end of his nose.

"I want t-to see t-the King." I stutter. I'm so nervous…

The man just stares at me, before letting out a laugh. "Oh, this isn't the castle, but it used to be. Now this is the post office. A king hasn't live here for hundreds of years."

"Oh…" I say a bit sadly. "Do you know how to get to the castle? Or have a map maybe?" I ask.

"I'm afraid I don't. But the mail carriers know." My eyes light up as he tells me where to find them.

I let go off the desk and slide to the floor. "Thank you." I say to the man before I walk over to Gold who is looking at a wall of medals.

"What did you find out?" Gold asked, still staring at the medals.

"He said this isn't the castle and that he doesn't know where it is or have a map, but one of the mail carriers might know."

"So let's go." He replies smiling. So I take him to where the mail carriers are supposed to be. It's a building outside, next to a stable.

We walk inside the building and only see two men playing cards. Both have black, unkempt hair but one is larger and has a cleft in his chin, while the other is skinner and has a longer nose. "Would either of you happen to know how to get to the castle?"

One man shakes his head but another speaks up. "Yeah, I do. Who wants to know."

"I do. I want to ask the king something." I reply.

"And who might you be?" The man asks.

"Black." I reply.

The other man lets out a snicker. "And who's he behind ya?" He asks.

"That's Gold, My mentor." Both men look taken aback and begin whispering amongst themselves. "What's with them, Gold?" I whisper to Gold.

"Black, I should tell you that it is practically illegal to withhold information from you since you are being mentored."

"Really?" I whisper.

"Yes, you can ask anything you want… but I think you should still respect people."

The men stop whispering. "Ok, I can't really tell you because the castle is a bit of a complicated path, but I can show you."

"When?" I ask.

"I not exactly sure but I'll make sure you know when I'm going." The man says as he scratches the back of his neck. "And you'll have to get up early… it's a long walk…"

"What's the stable for if you just walk?"

"Wha? Oh, the stable…The stable's always been there… we don't actually use it since there's nothing in it…"

"Well, thanks for your help. We should go now. It's getting late." The man nods and we leave.

"I don't trust him." Gold says as we walk home.

"Why not?" I ask.

"He has that look about him, and did you see how he acted after he found out you were being mentored. It was like he was scared out of his wits!"

"Well, there is the whole illegal information thingy." I reply.

"But most people in town don't abide to that rule, and mentors don't hold them to it. But how could they not know that? They're mail carriers; they spend most of their time out and about, where people are likely to talk to them."

"Maybe they are just uninformed."

"Maybe…"

And that's the last we speak of it.


	4. Chapter 4

_I'm sitting in the kitchen eating cereal and attempting to watch the news. I haven't seen Gold yet, maybe he decided to sleep in his bed for once in his lifetime. Well, at any case Gold isn't going to wake himself up soon. I check the date and see that it's Saturday before deciding against waking him up. I've turned my attention back to the Television when I hear a knock on the door._

_I get up and walk over. I open the door…_

I hear and sudden noise and I'm ripped from my dream. I'm panting even though I have no reason why. I struggle to slow my breathing, and focus on what could have made the noise. It could have been anything from Gold, to… well someone other than Gold. Most people in town know us and I'm sure they wouldn't bother to break in our house at… 4 in the morning… to tell us something.

I roll over and attempt to get back to sleep. I hear the sound again but this time it can't be ignored. It sounds like people tromping around in the woods on the edge of our back yard. I peer out the window into the darkness of the night. All I can make out is a shadow.

I hear another crunch and the shadow whips around. "Will you be quiet?" The person whispers loudly. "I don't want anyone to know we've been here, okay?"

I roll my eyes and return to my bed. It's nothing serious, just a bunch of fools walking around in the forest at night foraging for flowers… but there aren't that many edible ones. I yawn as I let sleep take me again.

When I wake up again, it's bright outside and I can tell I've overslept. Gold's probably still asleep, and the soft snoring I hear confirms it. I stretch and get out of bed, shower and then dress myself. I have a feeling that we'll be doing something important today.

I step out the living room. Gold slept on the couch as usual. Even though he's had to have slept at least eight hours last night, he seems oddly tired, but then again Gold doesn't strike me as a person who normally goes to bed on time.

I walk pass his sleeping form and out the door, I think I could use some fresh air today after that nightmare and all.

Nothing seems to be out of the ordinary. Except for one thing: Bianca is outside; Now that by itself is nothing new, but at this time of the day? She has to be up to something.

I watch her run frantically up and down the street putting letters into people's mailboxes. If I didn't know any better, I'd say she got a job as a mail carrier. I decide not to call her out on her new morning exercise session and just walk back into the house.

"Oh, you're up," Gold said, as he let out a yawn and stretched. "Then again, you always get up before me," I don't reply so Gold asks, "Anything new?"

I shake my head without thinking. "Bianca's running around putting letters into people's mailboxes." I reply. That didn't seem like much news, but it was new.

"Well, that's good. She got a new job." I attempt to stifle a laugh.

"So, what are we going to do today?" I ask. I really have no idea what to do today. I normally rely on Gold to plot out activities for the day.

"Cheren's mom wanted me to bring you over to visit." Gold said, as he slid into the couch. This meant exactly what he said, but I'm sure Cheren's mother worded it differently.

"When are we leaving?" I hope it's sooner than later, because I really have nothing to do today.

"In four hours. They should be good and awake by then." I should have known it would be later. Gold was getting into nap mode and that always means we won't be doing anything for a while.

I decide to go back outside and find out what Bianca is doing.

"Hey, Bianca!" I yell. She seems to have slowed down a bit and she's panting. "You okay?"

Bianca nods and catches her breath before talking. "Can you help me deliver these?" She says smiling and holding out some envelopes.

"What are these?" I ask. Bianca doesn't seem like the type of person to have a pen pal or anything, but she could be passing out letters for her parents.

"Uh-uh. It's a secret! Black-chan!" Black-chan…? "So don't let anyone see you with 'em and try to deliver as fast as possible." Bianca chirped before disappearing into her house.

I try not to think hard about what she said as I deliver the letters.

When I get home Gold is sitting on the couch watching a children's show.

"And people say I'm childish." I say as I enter the door.

"You know what I just noticed?"

"What?" I ask, plopping down on the couch.

"There are no adults in this show…"

"Who needs adults when you have the power of friendship?!" I mock. Gold lowered his eyes at me. "You know that's basically what they're saying."

"Anyway… You were gone for quite a bit. Where did you go?" Gold asked as he turned his attention back to the TV.

"I was helping Bianca deliver some letters." I let my head hit the back of the couch. _What does Chan mean anyway? _

"She didn't want to feel guilty about not finishing her paper job so she passed it onto you?"

"I guess," I said, before yawning. Gold asked something shortly after that but I was too deep in the dream world to hear it.

Gold woke me up later. Shaking me and calling my name. "Black? Black!" He called, before I gained consciousness. "It's time we get going to Cheren's house."

I get up whining about the whole visit. Surprisingly, I felt more refreshed when I fell asleep. Gold ignores me and drags me out the door.

I'm still sleepy so I lean against Gold as he holds my hand to keep me walking.

"Can't I sleep five more minutes?" I ask, slurring the syllables.

"No, we're supposed to be there in five minutes."

"Fine, but I expect cookies and milk when we get there."

Gold ignores me and keeps walking.

When we get there, Cheren's mother meets us at the door and ushers us in. She sits us down at the dining room table. Gold and her make small chitchat, while I try to break my drowsiness. The whiff of something sweet catches my nose and I can't help but asking.

"Is that muffins I smell?" I ask calmly. She nods. "Can I have one?" She lets out a laugh before going to get a muffin for me. I'm awake, now that I have something to nibble on so I get down to business. "Where's Cheren?" I ask, in a pause in their conversation.

"He should be in his room, but I would knock before entering." She warns, as I walk off to Cheren's room, muffin in hand.

I knock on the door to Cheren's room. He doesn't answer at first but when I knock again, he asks who it is.

"It's me Black," I say taking out another bite of the muffin. "I've come to see you." I hear Cheren fumbling with something on the other side of the door. Then he opens the door.

"Come on in." He says, and I walk past him into the room. Cheren's room is meticulously clean, unlike my room… which is just mostly empty. I wonder what he was fumbling with. "So what do you want to do?"

I take another bite of my muffin. "Let's just play some video games." Cheren always has the coolest video game; that's just one of the perks of being an only child. Cheren sets up the game while I go to get another muffin even though I'm not done with the one I had.

"Is that one for me?" He asks when I return. I nod awkwardly. "Not really hungry." I'm glad because I had no intentions of giving it to him.

I sit down next to him with my legs crisscrossed and place my muffins in the gap between my legs. "Is this game new?" I ask, recognizing the title from a commercial.

Cheren nods. "Why don't you have any video games?"

"Gold says that lazy mentors give them to their children when they don't want to take care of them." Which I guess, is true. Judging by how much time Cheren spends cooped up in his room.

"That's just an excuse so he can save his money." Cheren replies.

"I never thought about it that way… but he does have to take care of us both with his money." I turn away from the TV thinking about the muffins.

"But he doesn't have to pay taxes." Cheren's voice gets strained like he's talking through his teeth. He must be fighting a boss.

"What are taxes?" I ask, finishing off a muffin.

"My point exactly." Cheren say, as he kills the boss. "Yeah, I killed it!"

Cheren is happy until he dies on the next level. The game over screen pops up and he holds out the controller. "You want to play?" I shake my head and Cheren goes back to killing zombies.

"Has Bianca told you about her sleepover?" I shake my head. "Well, I guess she hasn't given you an invite either. I'm not invited, for obvious reasons." I would ask what those reasons were, but Cheren said they were obvious… The most obvious thing about Cheren is his glasses, in a way, but I don't wear glasses so it must be something else. Maybe it has to do with this whole 'chan' thing?

"Black! It's time to go!" Gold calls out. I stand up hastily and say goodbye to Cheren before leaving. I walk out to the living room where Gold is saying his goodbyes to Cheren's mom.

"Well, I'll talk to you some other time, okay?" Cheren's mom says as we leave and I say goodbye to her.

We walk silently at first until I decided to break it. "So what did you talk to Cheren's mom about?" I asked.

Gold hummed something. "We were talking about the stages of children, or phases as some people call them."

"What do you mean by phases?" I ask, getting in front of Gold and walking backwards.

Gold stopped walking and crouch down to my level so I stopped walking too. "Do you remember when one day you woke up and decided that chocolate ice cream was your favorite flavor? And you asked me for some everyday?" I nod. I remember that time well. "Then one day you woke up and decided that you liked vanilla?" I nodded again. "That is what I call your chocolate ice cream phase." Gold stopped crouching and began walking again.

I began walking too. "So what phase were you talking about with Cheren's mom?" I just remembered; I left my muffin.

"Puberty." Gold said, frowning.

"What's that like? Is it bad?"

"Eh… no. It's necessary to become an adult in a sense, but not necessarily good or necessarily bad. It's like getting shots, or eating your vegetables; you just need to do it." Gold stopped. "Wait, that's wrong." He kicked a rock, lying close to his foot. "It's more like breathing or… eating… yes, like eating and breathing. You must do them so life can go on."

"So you can't live without puberty?" Gold nodded.

"But as long as you go through it at some point in your life you'll be okay." Gold added.

"So what happens during puberty?" I ask, beginning to skip.

"Well, when I went through puberty… I got taller, my muscles grew, and I decided I wanted to become a mentor."

"Will that happen to me? Will I be as tall as you when I grow up?" I'm the one to stop walking now, and Gold follows my action.

He scratches the back of his neck. "Maybe, I'm not so sure, but doctors can predict how tall you can be, so if you really want to know you can ask." Gold then mumbled something.

"Huh, what did you say?"

"I said that they like playing jokes on people though." We are almost home now, and Gold starts walking a bit faster. Then Bianca walks up to us and Gold and me stop walking.

"Hey, Black. Hey, Gold." Bianca says cheerfully.

"Hello, Bianca. How are you doing today?" Gold replies.

"Hey. Bianca." I choke out. What she said earlier is still giving me the creeps; it didn't seem like her…

"Fine, Gold." She told him before turning to me and handing me and letter, much like the ones I was passing out earlier. "I wanted to invite you to my sleepover, I'm having tonight." Then she walks away. "I hope you can make it Black-chan." She says as she waves.

All I can hear while waving back is Gold's snickering. "What are you laughing about?" I ask him, when Bianca is out of sight.

"In the house and then I'll tell you." I follow Gold into the house and close the door behind me. "Oh, kids these days."

"Mind telling me what's so funny?" I ask, as I cross my arms.

"Let me see the letter." I hand the letter to Gold. He reads over it before laughing a bit. "Just as I thought." He says, handing the letter back.

"What?"

Gold stares at me for a moment before realizing that I'm very serious and the smile drops from his face. "She thinks you're a girl."

I'm taken aback, appalled. Bianca thinks… I'm a… girl? "How do you know?" I ask, curiously.

"She called you 'chan' and invited you to an all-girl sleepover party." I snatch up the letter and read it.

_Hey, this is Bianca and if you got this you are officially invited to my sleepover party! It's going to be today at my house, starting at nine o'clock! Only girls will be there so make sure to bring your dolls and pillow! And don't forget to bring your jammies! Hope to see you all there!_

_Loads of fun,  
Bianca_

"So what should I do?" I ask, panicking.

"Calm down. You'll go." Gold says calmly.

"What do you mean I'll go? I'm not a girl!" I tell him, slouching into the couch. "How do they not know I'm a boy?"

I can see Gold rolling his eyes out of the corner of my eye. "Ok, we'll bring all your stuff, because you were invited and then we tell her mom that you're a boy and see what's up. If she says you can stay, you can stay and if you have to go, we go." Gold glances at the clock. "Besides, you're nine."

"What does how old I am have to do with anything? Gold, they're questioning what gender I am!" I whine.

"It may not make sense to you but it makes a lot of sense to adults." I try to grasp this. Maybe it's like taxes?

Gold abruptly stands up. "Well, let's go pack your stuff." I sigh and follow Gold into my bed room. He gets a gym bag out and places, my pillow, my blanket into it, and then some clothes to sleep in before switching it all around and places the clothes on the bottom. Then he gets my toothbrush and toothpaste and puts in in a plastic bag and places that in the gym bag.

I feel like I'm getting kicked out of the house.

Then before I know it were heading to Bianca's house. I know it's not nine so I protest. "But, Gold! It's only 8:30."

"We're leaving early so we can clear things up and leave the premise if we have to before nine." Once again it's something I don't understand but I don't argue.

We reach Bianca's house and Gold knocks on the door, which is immediately opened by Bianca's mother. "Hello!" She chirps, much like Bianca would, before letting us inside.

"How are you today?" Gold asks. Bianca's mother replies with an 'excellent'. "Well, sorry about coming early (insert an 'Oh! It's alright' here) but I noticed that it was an all-girl party and Black is a boy… so I came to clear things up…"

Bianca's mother stares off in space for a moment. "I'm fine with him staying, but what about the other parents? Do you think they'll be okay with it?"

"We can call them to make sure?" Gold suggests. Bianca's mother eagerly agrees and we go to the kitchen so Gold and Bianca's mom can call up each parent of a person Bianca invited. Most of the calls didn't stick out to me but one did. Gold seemed to be arguing with the person on the other line and despite his best attempts to stay calm and relax I could tell he was getting upset.

It all started with one line: (Well, two, counting the person on the other side.)

The person said something and Gold replied with: "Because he was invited." You could hear it in his voice. He was getting upset. "Excuse me? What is that supposed to mean?" Gold switched the phone to his other ear. "Why am I defending him? I am him!" Gold paused to listen to the person. "What do you mean you feel sorry for me? I feel sorry for you, being so ignorant and self-centered that you can't realize that you're doing your child more harm than good."

Bianca's mother held out a plate of cookies to Gold and Gold motioned for her to set it down. "Depriving her of food so she doesn't become 'fat' is not healthy. So-" Gold paused again and let the other person talk. "She isn't fat! It's genetical and you-" The person cut him off again. "I'm not blaming anything on you but depriving her of dinner and telling her that she's ugly and fat isn't going to make it any better." Gold paused again. "What do I suggest? I suggest instead of deprived her of food, you just gently persuade her to play outside more. Go play catch with her or something, and if she gets tired rest and drink some water. And then if she wants to continue, you do. Make it fun and don't push her. Make her feel special, and tell her that she if beautiful and stuff like that."

Gold paused for a moment, daydreaming. "What do you mean that's stupid?" Gold grabbed a cookie off the plate. "That isn't stupid! Did your mother do that to you?" Gold paused again. "Excuse me? I don't force him to do anything. He does it of his own free will, because I TAUGHT him how to be healthy and accepting of yourself." Gold ate the cookie. "Yes, I do accept myself." Gold paused. "Are you… are you done yet? Ok, then if you don't mind I'm going to hang up now."

Gold hung up the phone and sighed. "Ugh, people sometimes…"

"Who was that again?" Bianca's mother asked.

"You know Diana's mom?" Bianca's mom shook her head. "The really thin lady, size four body?"

"Oh… her…"

"Well, apparently she didn't take kindly to Black being here and then we started arguing about how she's starving Diana… I just hope she doesn't take the exercise thing to the extreme, if she does it at all." Gold, said as he let his head hit the table.

"Some others are still coming though, um… who were they…? Willamina, Agatha, Sandra, Victoria, and… who was it? Oh and Tiara's mother said she was coming." Gold added, eating another cookie.

"You had more luck than me," Bianca's mother said. "No one I called still wanted to come; most had the 'flu.'" Gold and she laughed, as Gold got another cookie. That's true though, most of the people at school were out because they had the flu.

"But everyone but me, Cheren, and Bianca we out on Friday with the flu." I pipe in. Gold and Bianca's mother stop laughing.

"You want to go join Bianca? I'm sure she's waiting for you." Bianca's mother asks. "Here take the cookies too." She says handing me the tray.

"Yeah, Black." Gold whispers in my ear. "Let the grown-ups talk and I'll tell you about it tomorrow, ok?" I nod and go to deliver the cookies to Bianca's room.

I step in and greet Bianca, who is happy to see me. "Hey, Black-chan! I knew you would make it!" She says happily as she helps me with the cookies.

"Everyone else should be on their way. I need to get my bag, ok?" Bianca nods and I go back to get my bag, but I overhear Gold talking.

"-I just don't know what to do sometimes. I feel like people don't respect me as a person, y'know?"

"We all make mistakes Gold." Bianca's mother comforts.

There's a big pause and I take this time to go in and get my bag. Neither Gold nor Bianca's mother say anything.

Then I hear the doorbell ring, and Bianca's mother goes to get it as I head up the stairs. "I think everyone else is here," I say as I sit down against a wall. I hear footsteps and all of a sudden there are six girls in the room.

"Hey, Bianca!" They say in unison before piling in. Then they notice me. "Hey, Black-chan!" They make little squeals and giggle.

I wave back shyly.

Bianca gets up and gives them all a hug. Saying their names. " Hey, Agatha, Vicki, Sandra, Tiara and Willy! Hello, to all of you. And as you know I even got Black-chan to come! Now we can all ask Black questions!" I start feeling nervous. I'm not really good at answering questions.

I suddenly surround by a group of girls, all sitting crisscrossed and making a circle. Now I regret sitting against the wall.

"Black-chan? How do you get your hair like that? It looks so soft." One of them asks, I think her name is Agatha?

"Yeah, and that hairstyle is so cute!" Vicki complements, and I can't help blushing.

"Can I touch it?" Tiara asks.

"Yeah! I want to touch your hair too!" One of the girls agrees, and suddenly all of the want to touch my hair.

"I-I guess I-it's o-okay…" I stutter. Some of the girls squeal while others twirl locks of my hair in their fingers.

"It is soft!" Agatha sighs. Many of the others nod. I notice 'Willy' isn't taking part in all of these. I should feel a bit glad, but I feel concerned.

"One more coming up!" Bianca's mother yells up the stairs. "Go on, they're waiting for you." Seconds later a slightly chubby girl walks through the door.

"Hey, Diana!" They say all say in unison. Then I give a little smile and wave.

Diana's eyes widen. "You guys got Black-chan to come? This is awesome! Make room." She says and they expand the circle to fit her. "Oh my goodness, you are like the prettiest girl in the whole school!" Diana gushes to me.

"But… I'm not a girl…" I tell them. Most of them don't look shocked.

"Ha!" Willy laughs, pointing an accusing finger. "I knew it! I'm the prettiest girl in the whole school."

Most of the girls ignore her.

Vicki punches me on the shoulder, which kinds of hurts. "We know, but we can still ask you about why your hair is so soft!"

"Or how you keep your figure." Diana gushes.

"Or where you buy your clothes!" Agatha chimes.

"So, you see." Vicki starts. "We don't care if you're a boy, because you make a pretty awesome girl!" Everyone else nods, including Willy. And we all finally wind down from the questions, watch a movie and then go then go to bed.

**Gold doesn't have to pay taxes because he's paid by the state; they just subtract his taxes from next week's pay.**


	5. Chapter 5

"_How would you like your hair done?" I asked my new customer. _

_She contemplated what I said. "Um, can you put my hair up it a bun?" _

_I nodded. "I sure can."_

_The girl made a little squeal of delight. "I can't believe I'm having my hair done by world famous hair stylist, Black!" The girl chirped. I turned her chair around and my hand brushed her shoulder in the process. She let out a gasp instantly. "He touched me…" She whispered._

"_Yeah…" I said awkwardly. "How else am I supposed to do your hair?" _

_She nodded, acknowledging that I was right, quieted herself, and let me continue with my work._

"_Ah! It's beautiful!" She said when I was finished. She stood up promptly and began to collect the money to pay me. I just stood there, glancing around when she handed me 400 dollars. "I must be on my way!" She said placing the money in my hand. "See you later!" She chirped as she ran out the door._

"_Thank you very much." I counted the money, making sure it was the amount needed. IT was so I put it in my cash box. I was struggling to put the box on its place on top shelf, when someone walked up behind me and pushed it up._

_I turned around, flustered and ready to snap on whoever it was. I turned around to see Barry, my blonde, annoying co-worker. "Barry!" I snapped pushing him away from me. "What do you want?" Barry only ever wanted two things: to talk to me or to harass me. Both pretty much ended with me getting pissed off._

"_Do be mad at me, Black. Do you know what today is?" Barry asked, ignoring my question._

"_What?" I asked, glaring at him._

"_Today's our anniversary!"_

"_What are you talking about?" I asked Barry, who looked overly happy._

"_Today is the day we first started working together." Barry explains, acting like this is a big deal. I open my mouth to say something but Barry stops me. "Ah, ah, ah. Before you get all mad and say that you don't care or something like that, I want you to know that I'm here to treat you. So because you get so frustrated doing other people's hair, I'm going to do your hair. M'kay?"_

_I shook my head. "No," I started. "Not happening."_

"_Okay, here's the deal. You let me do you hair or…"_

"_Or what?" I snap. _

_Barry holds up my diary. "I sell this on eBay."_

_I reach out for it, but Barry withdraws it. "Give me that and I won't kill you."_

"_No, I refuse. Or…" Barry says fingering the diary. "You can get it back for a kiss."_

_I scowl at him. "Let's get this over with." I go to sit in the chair._

"_Really? You mean it? This is goi- oh, fine. I guess doing your hair is okay too…"_

_I raise an eyebrow at him. "You didn't think I was really going to kiss you, did you?" Barry words something. "Never mind, just don't jack my hair up." I say as I lean back in the chair._

_Barry walks around the chair and grabs a bottle of conditioner. "Yeah, I'll try not to." Barry says as he pours it onto my hair. Barry puts the bottle down and begins to lather it. He massages it in… just like Gold used to do…_

"_Ah," I moan. Barry slows down. "Don't stop!" I snap. "Keep going." And Barry continues to massage my scalp…_

_Wait this is a dream…Who is touching my hair!_

I open my eyes, and realize I'm surrounded by girls.

"Oh, his hair is so soft!" Bianca chirps.

I can feel some of the girls playing in my hair. I tilt my head up and see Agatha smiling back at me.

I sit up, making sure not to hit anyone. I open my mouth to speak but Diana cuts me off.

"Black-chan! Your hair is so soft!" All the others girls nod and agree.

"You must tell us your secret." Willamina says, running her hand through my hair.

The only problem is, I don't know why my hair is soft! "I really don't know. Gold just puts some stuff in it sometimes-"

One of the girls gasp, and I stop talking. "Right, Gold-san must know!" The other girls nod.

"Come on, let's go find Gold-san!" Tiara says, giving a fist pump. The other girls fist pump and file out of the room, apparently looking for Gold.

They find him in the kitchen talking with Bianca's mother.

"Good morning, children." Bianca's mother greets. We give her a complimentary 'hello and good morning'.

"Good morning, everyone." Gold says, taking a sip from his mug.

"Gold, we wanted to know what you do to Black's hair to make it so soft!" Willamina explains.

"It's nothing special."

"We still want to know." Tiara practically screams.

"Well… first I-"

The girls push me forward. "Show us, please."

Gold turns to Bianca's mother who nods. So then we all rearrange furniture until we have 7 chairs along the wall and a chair opposite that. Gold tell me to sit in the lone chair while all the girls (and Bianca's mother) take the chairs on the opposite side of the kitchen.

"Ok, first you get some sugar, olive oil, and some melted butter." Gold got all of these things together and then put them in a mixing bowl. "Then you stir it up really well, and slather it over your hair." Gold put some on my hair. "And massage it in." Personally this was the part I liked best and enjoyed the most but I wasn't going to let them know that. So I tried to keep my face as plain as possible while Gold massaged it in. "Then you wait thirty minutes and rinse it out, but with cold water."

"So… now we wait?" Sandra asked. Gold nodded and the next thirty minutes were the most boring in my life.

"Ok, it's ready!" Gold walked me over to the sink and rinsed my hair out. Then he dried it. "Ok, touch it now."

Bianca touched it experimentally. "It's even softer than before!"

"Really?" Sandra asked.

"Oh, wow. I'm going to try it when I get home!" Diana squealed.

"What do you think of it Victoria? Is it softer?" Agatha asked.

Vicki petted my head. "Yeah, it is soft. Isn't it?"

"So now that we all know how Black gets his hair so soft, do you all want to watch a movie?" Willamina asked.

Bianca cheered. "My mom has tons of good movies!" Bianca turned to her mother. "Don't you mom?" Bianca's mother got a box down from a shelf. She placed the box on the floor and I could see from my place in the kitchen that it was filled with movies.

Agatha pulled out a movie called 'Deception'. "I love this one!"

"What's it about?"

"I don't want to spoil it." Agatha chimes, hugging the movie to her chest.

"Well, ok. We'll watch this one first then." Bianca says, putting the movie into the DVD player.

The movie promptly began and we all huddled on the couch.

"Bianca, can you get the light?" Bianca's mother asked.

Bianca turned off the light, and we watched the movie…

In short the movie was about a girl and a boy who lied to their parents to see each other. In the end the girl drowns because they tried to cross a river and the girl didn't know how to swim and the boy wasn't strong enough to carry her.

"That was stupid," Gold remarked, when the movie was over. "No one would try to cross a river if they knew they couldn't swim."

"So what should we watch next?" Vicki asked.

"Can I pick a movie?" I asked.

"Sure, why not?" Bianca's mother replied.

I dug around in the box until I found a movie that I thought was good. It was named "The little Shinx".

"We haven't watched that movie in a long time!" Bianca chirped.

"It sounds interesting…" Willamina added.

"So what are we waiting for?" Bianca's mother asked cheerfully. "Put it in!"

Nothing really interesting happened in the movie. They had some good scenes like when the Shinx got his head stuck in a hole and almost fell off a cliff, but some other ones were typical 'happy go lucky.

When the movie was over Bianca's mother announced that she had ice cream, so we all crowded around the kitchen table to eat.

"So what are we going to do next?" Bianca asked, in-between a spoonful.

"We could go to the mall!" Willamina suggested and the others agreed.

So after we all finished our ice cream, we headed back upstairs to Bianca's room and added some of her accessories to our clothes.

Most of the girls picked more personal things like purses or make-up, but I stuck with a hat and a scarf.

When everyone had decided what we would wear, we went outside and headed in the general direction of the mall.

We stopped shortly in front of Bianca's house.

"IS your mother coming, Bianca?" Agatha asked.

"I guess so…" Bianca told her. "Mom!" She yelled, cupping her mouth in her hands. "Are you coming?!"

"Yes, Bianca dear." Bianca's mother replied as she walked out the door followed by Gold. She locked the door before joining us on the sidewalk. "So is everyone ready to go?"

Bianca nodded. "Yes, mom."

"Ok, then. Bianca, lead the way."

So we all followed after Bianca who was discussing with Diana how her outfit looked. "That pin really makes your hair glow!" I heard her say. I glanced at it. I guess she was right; it did make her hair glow.

"Aww," I heard one of them say. "Look at Black-chan! Doesn't he look cute?!"

I looked around and everyone had stopped walking and was now staring at me.

"I like blue on you." Willamina stated, and then all eyes were on her, "I… Um, I mean the hat! The blue is the perfect color for his eyes and the white on the brim is the same color as the… Uh, scarf."

"I agree," Vicki piped in. "The scarf and hat go together, almost like it's a set."

"You see! Vicki agrees so can we get going before the mall gets crowded?"

Bianca let out a giggle. "Whatever you say, Willy." Bianca told her, before we started walking again, and the conversation dissolved.

"So what are we going to do first?" Agatha asked, when we finally arrived at the mall.

"I know!" Bianca chirped. "We can show Black-chan our favorite stores!"

"Ugh, I should probably go." Gold sighed. "Well, I'll see you later Black." He said, as he left.

"Ok, where to first?"

When I finally made it home, it was after six. I stumbled into the house and headed straight for the kitchen before sitting at the table.

"So, did you have fun."

"It was okay I guess." I said as I laid my head down on the kitchen table and tugged irritably at the scarf Bianca had given me. _'Oh! You like them so much,' she had said. 'and I don't wear it them much so take it and the hat.' _ "Bianca gave me the hat… and scarf." I explained to Gold.

"That was nice of her." Gold replied.

"Yeah, it was. I'm going to bed now. Ok?"

"Oh, Black. Before you go, That guy from the post office said he be able to take us to the castle on Wednesday, ad that he'll be in town until then."

I nod before going to bed. I stare at the ceiling, as I drift to sleep. There's only one problem… Wednesday is in two days… only two more days until…

**With good movies being the equivalent of a chick flick… and then the challenge was thinking of a movie a group of little girls would watch… **

**Wha? They still have DVD's? What happened to Blu-ray? People, they send letters through the mail to someone who lives across town… and then they don't know where the castle is… so if they don't have GPS why would they have Blu-ray?**

**As a general default, Black has no hat -_- This is so much a filler chapter… **

**Going to chapter 7 without even thinking of chapter 6 = Ph. Acidity… **


	6. Chapter 6

I sit silently in the dark. I haven't slept all night, I've been too excited. Today is Wednesday, the day that the postal carrier is supposed to take us to the castle. Then I can finally ask the king what he thinks happened to the pokemon and I can finish this report.

I can hear Gold's snoring from the living room. He's extremely loud, but at least he's sleeping...

I glance over to my clock on the wall. It's 12 o'clock on the dot, so I have six more hours until Gold wakes up. Maybe I should go to sleep, this is supposed to be a long walk, I could use the rest… or, now that I think about it, could pack something that I would need. Gold always says that it is better to be safe than sorry, so I should probably do both.

I get up, empty everything from my shoulder bag, then I repack it with all the essentials before heading to bed.

* * *

"Gold, get up!" I yell into the aforementioned person's ear. Gold jumped and his breathing was strained.

He calmed down a bit when he noticed me. He let out a sigh before talking. "Black… I thought I told you not to do that…" Gold said, catching his breath. After a few moments of silence, Gold spoke again. "Ok, where's the fire?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You don't just go around waking people up for no reason." Gold stretched and stood up. "Please don't tell me you got me up for no reason. I was having a very good dream."

"Today is Wednesday." I told him simply.

Gold gave me a blank stare, then walked past me into the kitchen and got some milk. "I hope this doesn't become a daily thing with you." He replied shortly after.

"Today is a special Wednesday?"

"What are we going on a grand adventure?" I didn't answer and Gold sighed. "Dammit, me and my big mouth… So where are we going?"

"To the castle…?"

Gold straightened his back and stood silently for a moment. "Eh? Really, for that report thing, right?" I nodded. "I honestly forgot about that." Gold sighed and sat down. "So what's the plan?"

"Were supposed to meet the postal carrier in the square and he's taking us to the castle." I told Gold.

"Oh… Right, I forgot…" Gold sat quietly, slowly drinking his milk. "Is there anything we are going to need?" Gold asked, finishing his milk.

I simply shrugged.

Gold let out a sigh. "Alright… so are you sure how long this will take then?" I shrugged again. Gold slouched his shoulders. "Awesome, let's go meet this, as you say, 'postal carrier'"

"He should be standing in the square."

"Alright then, let's go."

Gold walks outside and onto the street and I follow him. Something seems a bit off about Gold. It could be he's just tired; Gold never really was a morning person…

We arrive in the square and Pringles, the postal carrier, comes to greet us.

"Ah, hello and good morning my privileged friends! How are you doing this morning, Gold, Black?"

"How do you know my name?" Gold asks, glowering and crossing his arms.

Pringles lowers his eyes. "I deliver your mail…" Gold uncrosses his arms. "Anyway, are you two ready to go?"

Gold slips his hand into his pocket. Satisfied with what he finds, he draws it out empty and nods. "Yep, we're ready."

"Alright then, let's go!" Pringles cheers, possibly waking up half the neighborhood if not more, and then starts walking to the edge of the city. "Well, have to leave out of the north gate, because, as you know, the castle is to the north of here. While we walk we can go over some simple rules of this trip,"

Gold and I both nod.

"Ok, One. Do not, I repeat do not eat anything without asking me first, ok?" I nod.

"So you're concerned that we're going to go into the woods and eat a random plant?" Pringles cringes at the remark, but Gold ignores it.

"Two, we only stop for necessary things. Water, sleep, food… you know those kinds of things. And, three… no going through my bag! There are many important letters and such in here!" Pringles says, holding his bag defensively.

"So…What's it like being a mailman?" Gold whispers.

Pringles takes a glance at Gold, judging his sincerity, but soon accepts it as true. "It's okay, fun living I guess, if you can take the low pay and long work days."

Gold just lets out a huff of breath.

"How's being a mentor?"

"Ok, mostly fun. Black is one of the better behaved children."

"Really?"

"Yeah, back at the training center, we call kids like him… well; we call them a few things, but that is beside the point. The point is that Black makes it very easy to take care of him." Gold pats me on the head and ruffles my hair.

"Oh, so Black is really easy to take care of?"

"Well, yeah. He doesn't give me any problems. He's not like the kids they teach us to work with at the center."

"Really, what are they like?" Pringles asks, kicking a rock.

"A really rowdy bunch; they liked to do all sorts of things you would never expect children to do." Gold paused. "Let's just say that they aren't very good examples of disciplined children…"

"So basically they didn't listen to anyone, and did whatever they wanted?" Gold nodded in response. "Huh." Pringles whispered.

Our little group fell silent, and we continued walking. Several hours passed and no words were spoken in-between us, when suddenly Pringles stopped walking.

He placed his hand over his eyes, trying to get a better view of something. "That wasn't here last time." He brought his arm back down to his side. "I think we should go check it out."

"Check what out?" Gold asked

Pringles pointed off to the side of the road. "You see that?" Gold turned in the direction Pringles was pointing, and shook his head. "That house through the trees?"

"Oh, I see it."

"I think we should go see who lives there."

"Do you know them?" Gold asked, glowering.

"No," Pringles said simply. "But I may have some mail for them."

"Then by all means, please do go check it out. Black and I will wait here."

Pringles eyed Gold carefully before taking off towards the house.

"Shouldn't we go with him?" I asked, my voice heavy from not using it. I quickly cleared it.

"Probably, then again, I think he knows what he's doing." Gold said without looking at me. He had his eyes trained on Pringles who was greeting a lady at the door. He was glaring now, but I couldn't tell why.

"HI!" We heard Pringles call out. "How are you doing today, miss?" They spoke for a minute and Pringles handed her a letter before running back.

"So you did have mail for her." It was more of a statement than a question.

Pringles nodded. "Great news," He spoke. "She runs an inn and says we can stay there."

"It's midday, shouldn't we keeping going?" Gold asked.

Pringles looked up at the sky. "Well, it is midday, but there's no reason to turn down a warm bed for the night," He brought his head down to look Gold in the eyes. "Is there?"

"Alright, we're following you. Well, stay at the inn."

**A somewhat chapter, but none the less I hope you enjoyed! **


	7. Chapter 7

Every person existing today can be compared to a celestial object, if it's a star, planet or satellite is their own choice, though that doesn't really matter. As celestial objects we can choose what we want to do. You can decide if you want mint in your coffee this morning or you could have none at all, or you could decide to have children or not, that's a person's personal opinion though. Celestial bodies ride out their lives as free floating spheres in open space, open to any choice they may wish to make. Celestial bodies are never told where they need to go, in which direction they should float.

But one could argue, and argue well, that these same bodies which we are certain that are free, float because something made them to. Not something like gravity, which holds us to our spots here on this planet, and keep us from drifting, boundless with those bodies, but something deeper? This something is rooted deeper within us and possibly even deeper than that. Some like to call this special force, argued to be the strongest of them all, destiny.

Destiny can be argued to control everything it the universe and for good reason too, because just as I can say that it was of my own free will to say this and that, you could say that I was destined to say it. This raises many questions among people and runs a bit deeper than that of what we should or shouldn't put in our coffee. This shakes the very foundation of human life, threatening to challenge the biggest joy that all men hold.

_I chose to do this_

When this statement is challenge tempers are angered, childhood friendships are left broken and kingdoms lay in shatters. So what is the easiest way to avoid this?

"Just don't ask the question." Gold finished, closing the book in his hands.

"Why are you reading that?" I asked, after having been quiet so long, my voice came out a bit quiet. I repeated my question to make sure Gold had heard it.

"Ms. Juniper wanted me to read it, so I could teach it to you or something." Gold scratched his neck and placed the book on the nightstand.

"I don't think I understand though." I told him as he stretched.

"You don't have to get it right now, and I don't have to teach it to you for another year. Even then, if you don't get it you'll learn it eventually." Gold spoke through a yawn. He then turned to me and ruffled my hair. "Alright Black, that's enough for tonight time for bed." He said, before letting out a yawn. Gold then tucked me in before wishing me a goodnight and going back to his own room.

The next morning I woke up a bit earlier than usual, I was thinking about why I had woken up so early when my stomach growled. I glance around the room, looking for my jacket, which I had taken off before going to bed. I couldn't find it so I just headed downstairs. I walked into the kitchen where Gold and Pringles were talking with the inn keeper.

"So you see…" The inn keeper was saying as I walked in. She turned towards me. "Oh, good morning little one! How did you sleep?" She asked happily.

I nodded. "I slept fine, but I don't know where my jacket is. I had it yesterday."

"I'm cleaning it for you," She waves her hand, calling me over. "Come, sit and have something to eat." She says getting up to make me a plate.

"Good morning, Black." Gold and Pringles greet as I sit at the table.

"So as I was saying," The inn keeper continues, as she brings me my plate. It is sausages and a type of bread. "I'm in kind of a spot. I'm running low on food but there's no easy way to get it out here in the woods… I've sent my son to go to the closest city yesterday, but that trip normally takes months."

"So you're running low on food?" Pringles asks. I bit into one of my sausages.

"She just said that." Gold replies. Pringles ignores him.

"Yes, to answer your question, we are." The inn keeper sits back of the table and crosses her arms.

"We can help you." Pringles spits out. Gold quickly turns to him, almost glaring. Pringles eyes Gold. "We have plenty of time, and we need to stock up on supplies too, so we won't mind helping you."

"Really?" The inn keeper asks. Pringles nods. "Thank you!"

"So we'll stay here?" Gold asks.

"Sure, of course! Since you're kind enough to help I won't charge you while you stay." The keeper replies.

"We'll go out in a bit, after we've had breakfast." Pringles says, turning to Gold. "Right, Gold?" Gold, finally accepting it, nods.

"So how did you two sleep?" The inn keeper asks, getting up to get Pringles and gold a plate.

"Pringles was snoring, so I didn't get much sleep." Gold responds.

"I was snoring? You kicked me!" Pringles shot back.

"That was to get you to shut up!" Gold took a drink from his coffee. "Why not have a parade going on the doorstep, I'd sleep better." He mumbled.

"How can you say that when you kick in your sleep?"

"What are you talking about? I don't kick in my sleep." The inn keeper handed Gold and Pringles their plates and Gold started immediately on his bread.

"Alright, you don't kick in your sleep and I don't snore." Pringles exclaimed, patting Gold on the head.

**Sorry about the short chapter, I just didn't have very much to talk about here; we'll come back to this inn-type deal in a bit, I just felt there's nothing to include in it now.**

**I'm seriously starting to question the appropriateness of the name Pringles in the context of this story…If I was going to make up a name it really could have been anything, so why did it end up as Pringles? Maybe I was hungry? Eh, doesn't really matter, I'll stick with it.**

**Anyway hope you enjoyed ~ Ph. out**


End file.
